[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 6 (Wednesday, January 26, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S598-S599]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Kyl, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Cornyn, 
        Mrs. Boxer, Mr. McCain, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Crapo, Ms. Cantwell, 
        Mrs. Hutchison, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Alexander, and Mr. 
        Lautenberg):
  S. 188. A bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to 
authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2005 through 2011 to carry 
out the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program; to the Committee on 
the Judiciary.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I offer today legislation to authorize 
appropriations for fiscal years 2005 through 2011 to carry out the 
State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, SCAAP.
  I am pleased to be joined on this bill by a bipartisan group of 
Senators, including Senators Kyl, Schumer, Cornyn, Boxer, McCain, 
Durbin, Crapo, Cantwell, Hutchison, Bingaman and Alexander.
  This legislation is critical to ensuring that cash strapped states 
and localities are at least partially reimbursed for the costs of 
housing undocumented criminal aliens in their jails. Ultimately, were 
it not for the failure of the federal government to control illegal 
immigration, States and localities would not have to spend hundreds of 
millions of dollars in housing these individuals in their prisons and 
jails.
  During the 108th Congress, this bill passed the Senate by unanimous 
consent but stalled in the House of Representatives. This year, passage 
of this legislation is even more critical given that the authorization 
for appropriations for SCAAP in the Immigration and Nationality Act 
expired in 2004.
  While hard numbers can be elusive when determining the actual costs 
to American taxpayers of illegal immigration, not many would disagree 
that the costs are in the billions of dollars each year. These costs go 
to, for instance, education, medical care and incarceration. And even 
if we consider the tax contributions of undocumented aliens and 
subtract that from the total costs, we are still left with expenditures 
in the billions of dollars.
  The cost of incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens alone is a 
staggering figure--millions of dollars each year. And these dollars 
expended by States and localities are not optional. They must be 
expended since incarcerating individuals convicted of committing a 
crime is not optional.
  Since funding for SCAAP began in 1995, the amount appropriated has 
been as high as $565 million and as low as $250 million--and these 
figures only covered a portion of the costs expended by States and 
localities to house undocumented criminal aliens. Furthermore, every 
day States and localities expend other monies on undocumented criminal 
aliens that are not reimbursed by the federal government through SCAAP. 
Those expenses include public safety expenditures, expenses of trial 
proceedings, use of translators, cost of public defenders and the 
incarceration

[[Page S599]]

expenses of undocumented criminal aliens for minor offenses that do not 
meet the standards of SCAAP.
  The reality is that all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto 
Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands requested reimbursement through the 
SCAAP program in fiscal year 2004. In that year, $281,605,292 was 
awarded through the program.
  Congress has an obligation to reimburse States and localities for the 
costs of incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens when the federal 
government fails in its responsibility to effectively deter illegal 
immigration.
  During the 108th Congress, this bill--S. 460--passed the Senate by 
unanimous consent.
  This year, passage of this legislation is all the more critical 
because authorization for SCAAP funds expired in 2004. Without funding, 
cash strapped states and localities are going to have to re-allocate 
monies from other areas within their criminal justice system to meet 
the costs of housing undocumented criminal aliens.
  We in Congress can assist, albeit in small part, our states by 
supporting the ``State Criminal Alien Assistance Program 
Reauthorization Act of 2005''. This bill would amend section 241(i)(5) 
of the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize appropriations at a 
level of $750 million for FY 2006, $850 million for FY 2007 and $950 
million for FY 2008 through FY 2011.
  Enacted as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act 
of 1994, SCAAP reimburses States and localities that incur costs for 
incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens. These aliens must be 
convicted of a felony or two or more misdemeanors in violation of State 
or local law, and incarcerated for at least 4 consecutive days.
  Funding for SCAAP has been appropriated by Congress annually since 
1995. The program is administered by the Office of Justice Programs' 
Bureau of Justice Assistance, which is located in the Department of 
Justice.
  During FY1997 to FY2003, approximately $3.5 billion was distributed 
to States and localities. California has historically received the 
largest annual awards since the program's inception, with Arizona, 
Illinois, New York and Texas also consistently receiving large awards. 
Unfortunately, authorization for SCAAP expired in October 2004.
  SCAAP was established with the belief that protecting the nation's 
borders from illegal immigration is the responsibility of the Federal 
Government and that States and localities should be reimbursed by the 
Federal Government for expenses relating to these duties.
  It is clear to everyone in this Chamber that immigration is a federal 
responsibility. In fact, the Constitution gives Congress plenary power 
over immigration, so States are legally barred from acting on their 
own. SCAAP has been set up over the years to reimburse states and local 
government for the costs of incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens.
  It is based on the principle that when the Federal Government fails 
to enforce its laws against immigration violators, it should bear the 
responsibility for the financial costs of this failure.
  Mr. President, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this 
legislation. I also ask unanimous consent that the text of legislation 
be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 188

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``State Criminal Alien 
     Assistance Program Reauthorization Act of 2005''.

     SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEARS 2005 
                   THROUGH 2011.

       Section 241(i)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
     U.S.C. 1231(i)(5)) is amended by striking ``appropriated'' 
     and all that follows through the period and inserting the 
     following: ``appropriated to carry out this subsection--
       ``(A) such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2005;
       ``(B) $750,000,000 for fiscal year 2006;
       ``(C) $850,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; and
       ``(D) $950,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 
     through 2011.''.
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